Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999

(see regulations 87(2), 89(1), 93(2), (3)and (6))

SCHEDULE 13 Maximum permitted weights, etc

(see regulation 87(2))

Part I Maximum permitted laden weights of (1) trailers and (2) heavy motor cars and motor cars not fitted with road friendly suspension; in each case not forming part of an articulated vehicle

1.  The maximum permitted laden weight of a two or three axle vehicle to which this Part applies of a description specified in column 2 of Table I shall, for the purposes of regulation 87, be the weight specified in column 3 of that item.

2.  In the case of a vehicle to which this Part applies and which is not of a description specified in an item in column 2 of Table I, the maximum permitted laden weight shall, for the purposes of regulation 87, be the weight specified in column 4 of Table II in the item which is appropriate having regard to columns 2 and 3 of that Table.

TABLE I

Maximum permitted laden weights of certain two and three axle vehicles

(1)	(2)	(3)
Item	Description of vehicle	Maximum permitted laden weight (kg)
1.	A two axle trailer in which— (a) the two axles are closely-spaced, and (b) the distance between the foremost axle of the trailer and the rearmost axle of the drawing vehicle is at least 4.2m.	18,000
2.	A three axle trailer in which— (a) the three axles are closely-spaced, and (b) the distance between the foremost axle of the trailer and the rearmost axle of the drawing vehicle is at least 4.2m.	24,000
3.	A two axle motor vehicle which is a goods vehicle in which the distance between the foremost and rearmost axles is at least 3.0m.	17,000
4.	A two axle trailer in which the distance between the foremost axle and the rearmost axle is at least 3.0m.	18,000

TABLE II

Maximum permitted laden weights of vehicles not falling within table i

(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
Item	No. of axles	Distance between foremost and rearmost axles (metres)	Maximum permitted laden weight (kg)
1.	2	Less than 2.65	14,230
2.	2	At least 2.65	16,260
3.	3 or more	Less than 3.0	16,260
4.	3 or more	At least 3.0 but less than 3.2	18,290
5.	3 or more	At least 3.2 but less than 3.9	20,330
6.	3 or more	At least 3.9 but less than 4.9	22,360
7.	3	At least 4.9	25,000
8.	4 or more	At least 4.9 but less than 5.6	25,000
9.	4 or more	At least 5.6 but less than 5.9	26,420
10.	4 or more	At least 5.9 but less than 6.3	28,450
11.	4 or more	At least 6.3	30,000

(regulation 87(2))

Part II Maximum permitted gross weights for heavy cars and motor cars if the driving axles are fitted with road friendly suspension etc and in each case not forming part of an articulated vehicle

1.  Subject to paragraph 2, the maximum permitted gross weight of a vehicle to which this Part applies shall, for the purposes of regulation 87, be the weight shown in column 4 of the Table in the item which is appropriate, having regard to columns 2 and 3 in that Table.

2.  In the case of a vehicle to which this Part applies being a two axle goods vehicle which has a distance between its axles of at least 3.0m, the maximum permitted laden weight for the purposes of regulation 87 shall be 17,000 kg.

TABLE

Maximum Permitted Laden Weight

(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
Item	No. of axles	Distance between foremost and rearmost axles (metres)	Maximum permitted laden weight (kg)
1.	2	Less than 2.65	14,230
2.	2	At least 2.65	16,260
3.	3 or more	Less than 3.0	16,260
4.	3 or more	At least 3.0 but less than 3.2	18,290
5.	3 or more	At least 3.2 but less than 3.9	20,330
6.	3 or more	At least 3.9 but less than 4.9	22,360
7.	3 or more	At least 4.9 but less than 5.2	25,000
8.	3	At least 5.2	26,000
9.	4 or more	At least 5.2 but less than 6.4	The distance in metres between the foremost and rearmost axles multiplied by 5,000 rounded up to the next 10 kg
10.	4 or more	At least 6.4	32,000

(see regulation 87(2))

Part III Maximum Permitted Laden Weights for Heavy Motor Cars and Motor Cars Forming Part of Articulated Vehicles

(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)
Item	No. of axles	Distances between foremost and rearmost axles (metres)	Weight not exceeded by any axle not being the foremost or rearmost (kg)	Maximum permitted laden weight (kg)
1.	2	At least 2.0	—	14,230
2.	2	At least 2.4	—	16,260
3.	2	At least 2.7	—	17,000
4.	3 or more	At least 3.0	8,390	20,330
5.	3 or more	At least 3.8	8,640	22,360
6.	3 or more	At least 4.0	10,500	22,500
7.	3 or more	At least 4.3	9,150	24,390
8.	3 or more	At least 4.9	10,500	24,390

(see regulation 89(1))

Part IV Maximum Permitted Laden Weight of Articulated Vehicles

(1)	(2)		(3)
Item	Relevant axle spacing (metres)		Maximum weight (kg)
	(a) Where motor vehicle has 2 axles	(b) Where motor vehicle has more than 2 axles
1.	At least 2.0	At least 2.0	20,330
2.	At least 2.2	At least 2.2	22,360
3.	At least 2.6	At least 2.6	23,370
4.	At least 2.9	At least 2.9	24,390
5.	At least 3.2	At least 3.2	25,410
6.	At least 3.5	At least 3.5	26,420
7.	At least 3.8	At least 3.8	27,440
8.	At least 4.1	At least 4.1	28,450
9.	At least 4.4	At least 4.4	29,470
10.	At least 4.7	At least 4.7	30,490
11.	At least 5.0	At least 5.0	31,500
12.	At least 5.3	At least 5.3	32,520
13.	At least 5.5	At least 5.4	33,000
14.	At least 5.8	At least 5.6	34,000
15.	At least 6.2	At least 5.8	35,000
16.	At least 6.5	At least 6.0	36,000
17.	At least 6.7	At least 6.2	37,000
18.	At least 6.9	At least 6.3	38,000

(see regulation 89(1))

Part V Maximum permitted laden weight of articulated vehicles

(1)	(2)	(3)
Item	Type of articulated vehicle	Maximum permitted laden weight (kg)
1.	Motor vehicle first used on or after 1st April 1973 and semi-trailer having a total of 5 or more axles	38,000
2.	Motor vehicle with 2 axles first used on or after 1st April 1973 and semi-trailer with 2 axles while being used for international transport	35,000
3.	Motor vehicle with axles first used on or after 1st April 1973 in which— (a) every driving axle not being a steering axle is fitted with twin tyres; and (b) every driving axle is fitted with road friendly suspension; and a semi-trailer with 2 axles	35,000
4.	Motor vehicle and semi-trailer having a total of 4 or more axles and not described in items 1, 2 or 3	32,520
5.	Motor vehicle with 2 axles first used on or after 1st April 1973 in which— (a) every driving axle not being a steering axle is fitted with twin tyres; and (b) every driving axle is fitted with road friendly suspension; and a semi-trailer with 1 axle	26,000
6.	Motor vehicle with 2 axles and a semi-trailer with 1 axle being a combination not described in item 5	25,000

(see regulation 91(2))

Part VI Vehicles with two closely-spaced axles

(1)	(2)	(3)
Item	Description of vehicle	Maximum permitted weight of the two closely-spaced axles (kg)
1.	A motor vehicle or trailer in which (in either case) the distance between the two closely-spaced axles is less than 1.3m	16,000
2.	A vehicle being— (a) a motor vehicle in which the distance between the two closely-spaced axles is at least 1.3m, or (b) a trailer in which that distance is at least 1.3m and less than 1.5m, not being a vehicle described in item 3 or 4	18,000
3.	A motor vehicle in which the distance between the two closely-spaced axles is at least 1.3m and— (a) every driving axle not being a steering axle is fitted with twin tyres; and (b) either every driving axle is fitted with road friendly suspension or neither of the two closely-spaced axles has an axle weight exceeding 9,500 kg	19,000
4.	A trailer in which— (a) the two closely-spaced axles are driven from the motor vehicle drawing the trailer and are fitted with twin tyres; and (b) either those axles are fitted with road friendly suspension or neither of them has an axle weight exceeding 9,500 kg	19,000
5.	A trailer in which the distance between the two closely-spaced axles is at least 1.5m and less than 1.8 m	19,320
6.	A trailer in which the distance between the two closely-spaced axles is at least 1.8m	20,000

(see regulation 91(3))

Part VII Vehicles with three closely-spaced axles

(1)	(2)	(3)
Item	Description of vehicle	Maximum permitted weight of the three closely-spaced axles (kg)
1.	A vehicle in which the smallest distance between any two of the three closely-spaced axles is less than 1.3m	21,000
2.	A vehicle in which the smallest distance between any two of the three closely-spaced axles is at least 1.3m and at least one of those axles does not have air suspension	22,500
3.	A vehicle in which the smallest distance between any two of the three closely-spaced axles is at least 1.3m and all three axles are fitted with air suspension	24,000